Walk this World
by SugarBee
Summary: Soubi asks Hitomi-chan out on a date and she can't figure out why. He definitely does have a reason ... SoubixHitomi maybe?
1. one

**Chapter 1  
**

Michiru always sat in front of the class. Always. As in every day, and she never missed a day. Michiru never missed anything.

She was Shinonome-sensei's best pupil and she worked hard to keep it that way. Had sensei been a little less fair, Michiru was certain she also would've been sensei's personal favorite. But sensei didn't have a pet. _Yet_. Michiru hoped to fix that some day.

Monday morning was like any other Monday, with Michiru up front, awake and paying attention to what Miss Shinonome was writing on the chalkboard. It was this week's syllabus for English Literature. Sitting up front, she noticed immediately when sensei's left ear fell off her head and hit the floor with a _puff_.

Michiru's pale, dainty mouth fell open. She was a cute girl in a cookie-cutter way with bangs and short black hair. She looked around to see if anyone else noticed but the room remained quiet. Behind her was a sea of yawning mouths and bleary eyes. Aoyagi and Yuiko-chan were the only ones even mildly alert, but they were both looking down, very slyly reading text messages.

Michiru didn't know what to do in this case. What do you do when your teacher's ear falls off? First she examined the scene to make sure she hadn't imagined it. It was Monday morning, after all, and even though Michi-chan wasn't the kind to drift off, it was a distinct possibility.

But, no. There on the floor was Miss Shinonome's delicate light brown ear, lying on its side.

Michiru glanced at her best friend sitting next to her. Haruka-chan was sleepy, too, with the Monday blahs. She looked much like her best friend only with brown hair instead of black. As Michiru wondered what to do (ignore the fallen ear or call it to Miss Shinonome's attention?), she noticed Haruka's small, red eyes focused on the floor. Haruka-chan yawned, her expression blank. The significance of the stray ear hadn't settled on her yet.

The bottom line – Michiru didn't want to screw up her chances of possibly being teacher's pet by getting on Miss Shinonome's bad side. Before she could whisper to Haruka-chan, sensei finished with the syllabus and turned to the class,

"The best thing to do after a long weekend is …," and then she saw it. It was by the toe of her right shoe. In an oddly matter-of-fact way, Miss Shinonome picked up the ear and pushed it down and back into her hair like a barrette. Her ears were now at odd angles to each other. The teacher cleared her throat and picked up where she left off,

"… is to get back to work! Now, let's read pages 22 and 23 of Pasternak's Holly and Ivy before we discuss. You have 15 minutes." Sensei opened her own book on her desk and leafed through it quickly, searching.

Michiru closed her mouth in slow motion and got out her text book. It had a photo of butterflies on the cover.

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_I know this is a shortie, but I've already started working on chapter two and promise I'll finish it tonight. ^_^_


	2. two

**Chapter 2**

11:30 a.m.  
lunch

Hitomi Shinonome ran into the teacher's lounge like a major league baseball player diving for home plate. Unfortunately, three of the other teachers were there, standing on the other side of the room, talking about the long weekend. As soon as she saw them standing in their little group she slowed down and got it together. If they hadn't been there, she probably would've started crying.

When they realized it was only boring old Hitomi-chan and no one else, they quickly resumed their convo, effectively ignoring her. As always. Today Hitomi thanked her lucky stars. Like she wanted to hear their sex stories anyway. She paid them no mind, either, and hurried into the ladies' bathroom where she breathed a sigh of relief.

Until she looked in the mirror and the worst of her suspicions were confirmed: one – that the fake ears weren't working, and two – you couldn't just plunk one back on your head and have it look normal. She sighed and took them both off, feeling defeated.

It had all started last Friday night …

No, no – it had all started last _Wednesday_ …

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_Yeah, this chapter's even shorter but I'm trying not to do super-long chapters._


	3. three

_I've been re-inspired & out at manga fox reading the scanlations for no. 9, which we can't get yet in the U.S. (I'm not happy about it but yay manga fox!) The only way I could keep going with this one & finish is to re-do the plot and tell it the way I originally intended/wanted to tell it. Okay, so - revisions start with chapter 3. Thank you to all of my readers and everyone who reviewed and favorited! You guys are AWESOME! ^*^_

* * *

**chapter 3**

Wednesday 2:30 p.m.

A day like any other day.

A week like any other week.

Math was the class's last subject at the end of the day, after gym. Miss Shinonome had planned it that way on purpose. She wanted them all alert for math – no snoozers. As usual, they had homework for the weekend and a test on Monday.

"By the end of next week," Miss Shinonome went down the rows with the new syllabus, "we will have finished book 3 and will be on to book 4."

The class groaned out loud, in unison.

"But once we finish book 4 …," Hitomi looked up; her gaze just happened to fall out the window. Ten minutes ago they had all come into the building from gym class and already something was different. Ten minutes ago the schoolyard had been deserted. Now there was someone standing outside the gates, smoking a cigarette. Hitomi went over to the window to get a better look, but she was already certain – yes, it was Agatsuma-kun. Of course. He was here to walk Ritsuka home from school.

"Once we finish book 4 …," she continued, "we can have a nice break before starting Simple Thermal Equations."

This didn't seem to impress the class as much as she thought it would. She finished handing out the syllabus,

"Don't worry about thermal equations. All we're going to do is become familiar with them …."

Oh, but they were worried. Looking out at the class, she could see it in their eyes – large, moist, pleading with her.

"Don't worry, don't worry," she said, "we'll all get through this together. There will be a study plan for this weekend."

They groaned again, in unison. The upcoming weekend was a long weekend. School let out at 11 a.m. on Friday and there was no school on Saturday. Two and a half days of glorious rest. But she would still give them something to do.

Hitomi got started on today's lesson and forgot all about Soubi. What would she be doing this weekend? Sure, she had a lot of work grading papers, but ... Well, there were always her family. It had been a while since she went to her grandparents' for dinner Sunday night. What else? Go to a movie? With her dad, her mother? Her brother?

It was best not to think about it. She felt worse now than she had three minutes ago. Instead, she got back to her class and this made last period go by rather quickly. The day ended at 2:50 when the bells rang inside and outside the school. As she did every day, Hitomi stood by the door and said goodbye to everyone, making a mental note to herself to get a cup of tea before starting in on her paperwork for the school.

The last two out the door were Michiru-chan and Haruka-chan. Hitomi said goodbye to them and watched her little troop bounce and giggle and tease and yell their way down the hall to the exit.

Again, something odd caught her eye.

Someone ... an adult ... standing, waiting.

Hitomi gasped, momentarily startled. Security guards were the only adults allowed to stand around in the hallway and this wasn't one of the ...

Soubi!

Yes, it was him, long and slim in jeans and a coat. Yayoi, Yuiko and Ritsuka had all stopped to talk to him in the hallway. How odd. He should've known already that he wasn't allowed in the school.

He's come inside for Ritsuka, she thought to herself. Maybe it's raining out again.

Oh, well. Hitomi shrugged it off and went to get her handbag out of the bottom drawer of her desk. She would have a cup of tea and a snack before ... The door to her room shut with a soft and purposeful click that made her jump and turn around. Standing just inside the door was ...

"Soubi!" Hitomi said, surprised at first and then alarmed, "Is anything wrong with Ritsuka?"

"No," he said in his deep voice, "No, nothing's wrong with Ritsuka." He came inside the room and stood quietly with his back to the door, watching her.

"Oh!" Now she was confused. So, then ...

Outside the skies had indeed opened and rain had started to fall. She could hear it pitter-pat against the windows.

"Well, Agatsuma-san," Hitomi went back to taking her purse out of the desk drawer. Suddenly blank, she couldn't think of anything to say. As usual. She always felt nervous around beautiful Soubi. There was a reason for that that she just couldn't deal with right now. "I ..."

"Sensei," the tall sentouki said in his low voice, "do you mind if I walk you home today?"

Another surprise.

"I ... what about Ritsuka? You always ...," she stuttered.

"Ritsuka," he smiled, "is walking home with Yayoi and Yuiko today. I thought I might walk home with you."

"Oh!" She said. Looked like today was going to be full of surprises. "Yes. That's fine if you want to."

He sat down on Michiru's desk, his smile subtle.

"Agatsuma-san," she didn't want to be so nervous around him but ended up being nervous anyway, despite her best efforts. "I ... I was going to go for tea ..."

"Were you really?" He said, amused. "Do you mind my company?"

"No! No, not at all!" Hitomi grabbed her purse, hands shaking. God, she was nervous. Ultimately, in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what does he WANT? Knowing Soubi, he would certainly tell her. Probably sooner rather than later.

She stepped out of her classroom and Soubi followed. The staff break room was three doors down and to the left. Most teachers were, of course, still in the building. No one really went home until 5 or 6 o'clock. The school principal would stay until 8 or 9. She couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they saw her with Soubi.

Hitomi opened the door to the break room, went in and was disappointed. Only a handful of teachers remained. They all looked up when Soubi and Hitomi walked into the room. The three that she hated the most were having tea together in the corner and they were notorious gossips. But they did serve a purpose. The whole school would hear about this. The three witches watched, wide-eyed, as Soubi led Hitomi to an empty table,

"I'll make the tea," he said.

Hitomi sat quietly and waited. It was easy to see why Soubi thought she might fall in love with him. How many had already been infatuated with the graceful beauty that was Soubi? He moved like a geisha around the tea service, gathering a tray, cups, plates, hot water, tea, sugar, while the witches went back to their conversation, giving him a sly glance every now and then.

After he sat down and poured tea for both of them, he said, "Sensei, I think I've said some things to you that I, well, please forgive me."

Hitomi skipped the sugar and took her tea straight, "Forgive you?" Now she understood. Soubi had come to apologize.

"I," he turned to her and smiled, "I can be very blunt. I am always honest, sensei. I want you to know that."

"Yes," she took a ladylike sip from the cup of green tea he had prepared for her, "you definitely are ..."

But what exactly had he said? What was the absolute worst thing? Hitomi thought back on it and a few incidents came immediately to mind. The first thing that stuck with her was the day she met Soubi when he asked her age and then said with a smile that he wasn't into older women. That didn't hurt so much, but it was an odd thing to do. After that came the fight with the two boys that wanted ...

His smile faded. He was serious about this, "If it's true that I've hurt your feelings, sensei, I want to apologize. Maybe I'm not used to dealing with women ..."

That word made Soubi think of the haughty Nagisa, hate in her eyes as she brushed past Soubi in a school hallway. You never had to worry about dealing with Nagisa. She had no feelings to hurt. But there were others. Seven-tan came to mind. She was a little easier to deal with. Maybe his problem was that women were a mystery to him. Men were always more straightforward. Blunt.

Hitomi didn't know what to say. She sipped at her tea, unable to look at Soubi. She couldn't even force herself to be polite. Whenever she looked at him, whether it was his face, silky blond hair or long body, she lost herself. Any thoughts she had quickly left her mind, turning her into an awkward 12-year-old again.

Yuiko. Hitomi tried not to favor the girl too much, but she feared that she did. Yuiko reminded Hitomi of herself at that age. And she was every bit as anxious around Soubi as Yuiko was around Ritsuka. The slightest bad word could ruin her day.

So that's what Soubi was doing here. He knew.

"Agatsuma-san," she forced herself to turn and meet his gaze. His blue eyes were soft and comfortable. "I'm happy that you say the things you do, the way you say them. I should be a stronger woman ... but I'm not. And I'm not good at talking to men, either."

Soubi laughed softly, "You're not? You're very good with your students, sensei. They like you very much."

She finished her tea, "Those aren't men."

He laughed again, "Very true! They're not!"

What it was with her, he couldn't figure out just yet. He didn't know if she was truly dull, or if he had such an effect on her that it made her dumb, but she wasn't very interesting. He examined her without speaking. He had done so before, but he did it again now that he was much closer. Sensei wasn't a beautiful woman. She was too plain for that. But she was cute. She had a good body under her dowdy sweater and thick skirt. He had seen it in Yokohama when she wore the Chinese dress.

"Sensei," he said, "would you have dinner with me?"

"Me?" Hitomi nearly dropped her cup.

"Yes. If you don't want to, maybe we can just meet somewhere after school for tea?" Soubi looked around at the others in the break room, "We can talk privately, just us two."

Her ears perked. She had been dying to know more about Soubi-kun, like where he had come from. She wanted to know more about the incident in the park with the two ... That he was Ritsuka's friend and an art school student was all she knew about him so far.

"Oh, no!" She wanted to make it perfectly clear, "I wasn't thinking that! I ... well ..."

Soubi smiled at her and she blushed, like she always did around him.

"Yes, I would like to have dinner with you," she said in her soft voice, looking down.

"Good," he said firmly. She was pathetic. Maybe he could help her with that.


	4. four

**chapter 4**

The two tidied up their break room table and went back into the classroom so that Hitomi could finish her paperwork for the day. Half way through Soubi went outside for a cigarette, offering to meet Hitomi by the gates so he could walk her home.

By 5 o'clock she was finished, with her paperwork for the school, anyway. This meant filling out daily evaluations and tardy/absent reports for the computer system and elaborating on any problems. Hitomi's main concern was Ritsuka and all of his injuries. She had been documenting these carefully, to no avail. No one was doing anything about it, even though she had brought it up to the principal on several occasions. He had merely asked her to continue with her documentation.

She met Soubi out by the gate, "Thank you for waiting."

He finished his cigarette, "Are you hungry? We can stop for something …."

"No," she said, meaning it. She was much too nervous to eat right now. "What about you? Um, when we get home, I mean, to my house, my mother will have dinner ready … you can …?"

She couldn't say it. Plus, she felt like her face had gone beet red again. She'd basically just invited Soubi to have dinner with her family tonight. That was a very intimate thing to do. Of course he would say no.

"Dinner with your family?" He said, hands in pockets.

The day was a typical autumn day – gloomy with a cold wind, but no rain. Dead leaves scrabbled along the sidewalks around them and gathered in the gutters. Overhead the sky was gray. Even the cars moving past them on the boulevard were all gray, their passengers gray as well. Hitomi looked up at Soubi. She'd never noticed it before – his stadium jacket was dark gray. Only his blond hair, whipping in the wind, and his pink face had any color.

He looked down at her just as she was looking up, "Let's walk through the park."

She agreed. He turned left half a block into the boulevard and she followed. Here was a well-worn dirt path that Hitomi always avoided. Twenty steps ahead a stand of pine trees shielded the path and the river park from the boulevard. Once you were on the other side of the trees, anything could happen. But now that she was with Soubi …

It never occurred to her … that she would have a reason to be afraid of … Soubi.

On the other side of the trees was nothing but a wide open view of the river to the left, with another copse of trees in the distance, and a half dozen picnic tables against a chain link fence on the right. Hitomi balked for a moment when she realized the picnic tables were full of men. Soubi reached out to take her hand just as one of the men called out,

"Soubi!"

He nodded to them and said hello back. They all seemed to be in the middle of playing some kind of board game or card game.

Another man said, "Feel like a game? We got two that were just leaving. Hey – not everyone can live with the freewheeling life of a bachelor, right?"

Some of the men laughed and made comments under their breath as two sitting near the fence stood to leave.

Soubi put his arm around Hitomi's shoulders, "Ever play cribbage?"

"Cribbage?" She said, taking in everything. On each table was a small wooden board with pegs and piles of cards, weighted down against the wind. Also weighted down was a small pile of money.

"Feel like a game?" Soubi said to her.

"If you'll teach me," she said. This might be something she could play with the children. But then, if money was involved, maybe not ….

She had to wonder about these men – hanging out in the park all day, playing cards? She would ask Soubi about them later. It seemed wrong … somehow. She approached cautiously, the men turning to see her or watching her. Finally one of them, a fat older man in a gray jacket, said,

"Not that often we get a pretty girl for a game!"

His smile was casual, as if he could sense that she was afraid. Another man put out a cigarette in an ashtray and said,

"This your girlfriend, Soubi?"

Then they all started to pipe up, saying, _It's about time!_ and _Now we know what you've been up to lately._ Talk about embarrassing …. Soubi had her sit down by a slim little man with a weathered face who was actually smoking a pipe. It kind of reminded her of her dad. He nodded at Hitomi as she sat down.

"Let's not be ruining things for me," Soubi said as he sat down next to Hitomi.

"Oh, yeah!" A man at the next table said, "I guess that means she doesn't know yet that you're jobless, hmm, Soubi?"

This made a few of them chuckle. Another said,

"He's just an art student, Miss! And we all know what that means!"

This didn't seem to bother Soubi at all. He took a few yen out of his pocket and put it on the pile. Hitomi made a note to self, _very subtly ask him about his source of income_. Seriously. He didn't have a job, yet he was a student at an expensive art school. She made another note to check out his living arrangements. For all she knew he could be in the same boat as her – living with parents, or even worse, living with grandparents.

The slim pipe smoker gathered up the cards and shuffled them. The man across from him handed out tiny pegs – silver to the dealer, white to Hitomi, red to Soubi and black for himself.

Soubi said to her, "Every time you score, you get to move two spaces."

"Score?" She said. She had been dealt five cards.

He leaned in close to her, "First, look at your cards. What your objective is here is to make it to 15 points, then 31, using the cards that are laid down on the table by the other players. Look at your cards, then put whichever you don't want into a pile here."

Next to the peg board.

Soubi whispered in her ear, "The dealer will put down the first card."

He did and it was a jack of clubs. He laughed and moved his silver peg two places ahead of the startling line. Soubi looked at her cards, a two of hearts, which she thought of as good luck, three of diamonds, an ace of clubs and a queen of diamonds. Soubi took the three from her and put it on top of the jack,

"Thirteen," he said. "We go around, us four, and whoever makes it to 15 first moves two ahead, then whoever makes it to 31 moves two ahead, and then we start over."

It sounded boring, but what the hell. She was with Soubi, who put down a two of spades and said,

"Fifteen."

He moved two pegs ahead. What a cheater. The men around her knew it and laughed.

The afternoon wore on only a little. They didn't stay for very long – only two hands, both of which Hitomi won, despite her slow start. She was immediately suspicious about this. As the two stood to leave, both of the men at the table shoved the pot money at her even though she kept repeating _no, no_ and _no_.

Soubi grabbed the cash and stuffed it in her purse, "Yes, your winnings."

The man across the table, who looked like a phy ed teacher, said, "Come back for another game some time. Don't be a stranger."

The slim pipe smoker turned to her, "If we're not here we're at the coffee house."

He nodded to the north. That would be Kagoje Coffee.

Hitomi nodded at everyone, "Thank you."

If Soubi was with her again, she'd do it. She must've won about 5,000 yen. And yet she had a feeling that if she continued to play, there was a good chance she'd be losing and _not_ winning. Once they were back on the path again, with evening coming on, she had to ask Soubi,

"What are they doing in the _park?_"

He looked down at her and smiled, "Getting away from their wives."

That made her blush. What a thing! To want to be away from home.

"Seriously?" She said.

He nodded, "Mm-hmm. Some are retired. Some don't need to work. Would you really want to stay home all day?"

He had a point there. She thought about it. No, being at home all day would drive her crazy. But if Soubi were her husband … then … would she mind being home all day? The answer that came back to her was _no_. Were she married to Soubi, there was nothing she'd rather do than stay home all day and ….

Hitomi had to stop herself there. She felt herself blush again, her cheeks hot pink. She cleared her throat and kept up with Soubi's long stride up the path and out of the park, on to the next boulevard, which was only five blocks from her house.


	5. five

**chapter 5**

"It's very nice to meet you, Soubi!" Hitomi's mother said as she took the tall blond's hand, "This is a nice surprise."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Shinonome," he said quietly before turning to help Hitomi with her coat.

She couldn't believe he'd said yes to dinner and quietly breathed in to steady her nerves,

"Mom, do you want some help in the kitchen?"

"No," her mother ushered the couple out of the foyer and into the living room where Hitomi's father sat reading his newspaper. "Dinner's ready. Just … tea, Hitomi."

Of course. Tea.

She introduced her surprise date to her father, "Dad, this is Agatsuma, Soubi, a friend of mine from … school …."

Dad looked up and nodded, "Nice to meet you."

She had Soubi sit down on the sofa perpendicular to her father, "Would you like tea?"

Dad was having a beer, but it wasn't proper to offer Soubi a beer. Were he dad's son-in-law, that would be different …. But he wasn't. Yet. Hitomi stopped that train of thought and went for the kitchen.

Mom had simple stew ready for a serving dish, "He's a cutie, dear!"

"Yeah, he sure is," Hitomi said, feeling distracted. She hurried with the tea, her hands shaking.

Soubi had accepted her invitation of dinner. Now he was going to have dinner with not only her but her parents, too. She wondered for a moment where Mimoru was and hoped that the answer was out of the house somewhere. Interesting how he had so much more freedom than she did. If she spent as much time out of the house as he did, she'd never hear the end of it from her parents, even though she was over 21. Mimoru would love a situation such as this, where he could embarrass her to his little heart's content.

Dinner was served with side dishes of pickles and vegetables. Hitomi served Soubi while listening to her mother grill him endlessly about art school, which was not one of her passions. Unfortunately she was also interested in how Hitomi and Soubi first met, how long they had known each other, and what he planned to do with the rest of his life and if there was any serious income in that.

Dad said nothing. He did nothing but eat and listen.

As soon as the nightmare was over, although Mimoru being gone was a definite plus, Hitomi followed Soubi to the front door.

"Sorry about my mother," she whispered.

He turned and smiled, "Don't be sorry. Isn't she what a mother's supposed to be?"

Hitomi smiled weakly, "Well, I guess … so …."

He got into his coat, watching her, "It's been a great afternoon and evening, believe me."

"Thank you for saying so, Soubi-kun," she nodded, not 100 percent sure. It was fun walking through the park and learning how to play a new game, with a payout of 5,000 yen. But then there was her mother and all of her questions ….

"Then tell me," he smiled down at her, "when should _we_ have dinner?"

"Oh!" Surprise again. And here she was sure this was the end of Soubi. "I'll let you pick a date."

"Fine," he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Yes, okay," she hated herself for sounding like a dork.

Too soon he opened the front door and slipped out of the house and into the night like a ghost.


	6. six

**chapter 6**

She really didn't expect that he would call, especially after her mother had them practically married during dinner.

But he did call. When Hitomi got to the teacher's lounge during recess there was a message for her from Soubi:

_Please call me_

And then his cell phone number. She called him immediately,

"Hello? Agatsuma-san? This is Hitomi …."

"Hi," he said in his soft, deep voice, "sorry about calling you during class. I wasn't sure what would be a good time."

"Oh, no," she said, "I don't mind. I'm just … glad you called."

"Okay," he said, "do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

So here it was. He was really asking. Hitomi calmed herself,

"Sure. What time?"

"Kio will pick you up at six. We'll have dinner at my place at seven. Is that all right?" He said.

An hour? What – were they going to do it first? She kind of hoped so.

"Shinonome-sensei?"

A small voice brought her back to earth. She jumped, startled, and looked around. She'd been standing at the windows, looking down on the schoolyard below. Behind her the class whispered and giggled.

"Oh!" She said. She couldn't remember what she had been doing.

All she knew was that she was at the windows with a handful of papers.

"You were giving back yesterday's assignment," Michiru said.

"Oh!" Hitomi said again. She got moving and went back to handing out papers as the class giggled. "My apologies! I think you all did very well, but you're still not doing as well as I think you can ..."

As the class was leaving for the day, she reminded them, "Tomorrow is only half a day, so I want us to work extra hard!"

As usual, the whole lot of them, except for Michiru and Haruka, ignored her. Those two were always the last to leave for the day. They said goodbye to her very politely and followed the troop down the hall. Today they all seemed lighter, happier and louder than ever. Yayoi, Yuiko and Ritsuka walked out together. She watched them go and thought about Soubi standing in the hall the other day. She wished for a moment that he was there again, standing and waiting, but he wasn't. Truth was, she liked seeing him.

Hitomi left the classroom doorway and went to the windows that looked down on the courtyard. Yes, he was there, smoking a cigarette. Funny how she hated cigarette smoke but could tolerate it on him. As she watched and saw Ritsuka coming out of the school at the same time, Soubi looked up at the windows. When he saw her he smiled and let his cigarette fall to the concrete, where he stubbed it out with his right boot.

So stylish with his long coat and scarf. Something about his long stadium jacket made his body seem even longer, like a model's. Hitomi started to wonder what his skin was like but stopped herself. She had also been wondering all afternoon what it would be like to … do it, so much that she'd nearly forgotten the one big question – what the hell was she going to wear?

* * *

_Yes, Hitomi's conversation had been rolling around in her head for a good part of the afternoon and she lost herself - so the odd transition there was meant to be ... jarring as she returns to the concrete moment. I'm working hard to keep Hitomi as true to her character as possible, which isn't easy for me. We're polar opposites. I don't even have any friends that are like her. We're American girls. My approach to the hot Soubi would've been, "Oh, I'm not interested in a relationship with you. I just want an eff. We should have a few drinks and see what happens." I have a feeling that she's going to go out of character sooner or later, however, and, oh yes - she's going to wear her pole dancer outfit for sure ^_^_


	7. seven

**chapter 7**

The whole issue of what to wear made her ill and drove home the big big number one reason why Hitomi avoided men like the plague – they made her sick. Even with an upset stomach she managed to get herself to Macy's as soon as school was out. Just inside the door a pretty salesgirl stopped Hitomi. Maybe it was the look on her face of abject terror.

"Can I help you?" The girl said sweetly.

If anyone needed help, it was Hitomi. By the time she left the store she had not only a new dress and shoes, but also a short, elegant coat and an evening purse, like the kind you see at an opera or the ballet. A small chunk of her savings was gone, but it was worth it. Once she was totally dressed, she didn't look like herself at all.

Back in her dowdy turtle neck sweater and wool skirt she returned to oatmeal. Hitomi went out into the street to catch a taxi home, or … maybe not. She thought about it for a moment. She had already spent so much money. The day had turned to evening and the sky was dark. Hitomi looked at her watch. It was already 7:30. She'd called her mother at home, another example of how the rules for her vs. Mimoru were so different, to let her know that she was going out shopping. Thankfully her mother didn't volunteer to come with. Mom was a nervous shopper. She was the perfect wife – tight with the purse strings.

A mean wind whipped up along the sidewalk, the kind of cold wind that promised snow. She set her bags down for a minute so that she could button her coat. Not that many people around, just the usual late office people, mostly salary men in gray or black raincoats, hurrying past. Hurrying up the street to the next train station. She didn't feel like taking the train tonight. It was early enough to take a street bus.

"Hi," an odd voice said from somewhere around her left shoulder.

She said hello without really looking, and then …

_Oh, yes. Something familiar!_

The other one grabbed one of her Macy's bags by the handles, "Sensei?"

"_You!_" Was all she managed to say. She lunged for the other Macy's bag but the first one, the one closest to her, snatched it up quickly. Hitomi tried to take it back, "Stop that!"

The darker haired one said in all innocence, "Don't you want us to walk you home, sensei?"

"No!" She said, making another attempt to get her bag back from the more evil one of the two. He held it just outside of her grasp, like …

_The first time._

The first time she saw them. She thought they were so innocent. At least they hadn't … yet … and, speaking of which, what the hell did they do to her then? That day they stopped her on her way to Ritsuka's house. She had been aware, and yet she'd had no control over her own body.

The one who had captured her the first time said, "We're just walking you home, sensei."

The dark-haired one chimed in, "Soubi said he'll kill us if we touch you."

Soubi … said …? Should she run? She still had her purse. But … would they catch her? She looked from one to the other – one with long, aqua hair and the other with dark, curly hair. They smiled up at her, like normal children. Soubi said he would kill them …. He was the one who saved her that day.

Aqua hair walked away with her Macy's bag, motioning her to follow him, "Come on. We'll walk you home."

"I …," she heard herself say, "I'm not walking home. I … I think I'll take the bus."

"Doesn't matter to us," the darker one said, "c'mon, let's go!"

They started off and she followed, "Does Soubi know …?"

"Oh, yeah," Aqua hair said, "we know where you live. We walked home with him the other night."

Friends with Soubi now? She didn't know what to make of that. Soubi was a mystery to her, and the fact that he was friends with these two wasn't helping any. She followed the boys down the sidewalk, to the south. The 111th Street bus stop was on the next block. A handful of salary men were waiting in the bus shelter. Hitomi joined them, the boys smiling up at her.

Just plain odd … odd … odd. She was just about to use her cell phone to send an alarm signal out to Soubi when the bus pulled up. The two boys had her get on first. Hitomi sat on the first seat past the handicapped area. Aqua hair sat in the seat in front and dark hair took the seat next to her.

"I love going places," Aqua said to no one in particular. "Much better than being back at school, right, Natsuo?"

So the dark-haired one was Natsuo.

"Mmm," he said, "except that Nagisa-sensei doesn't love us anymore."

"She's got to, Natsuo," Aqua said. "We just need to talk to her."

It was interesting to her how now they were talking around her as if she weren't there. But, really, in the bright light, on the bus with a dozen people around, they seemed so harmless, like regular school children.

"I hope you're right, Youji," Natsuo said.

And that answered that – aqua's name was … Youji. Brat. That seemed to fit him quite well. He dove into her Macy's bag without further adieu,

"What have we got in here? Did you get something for us?"

Natsuo leaned over the seat to get a look, too.

"Stop that!" Hitomi made one more attempt to get her shopping bag away from the brat but he pulled away.

He found her new strapless bra, black, "Wow! Look, Natsuo."

"Stop!" She whispered, grabbing at her new bra.

Youji put it back in the bag, "What else? Panties, sensei?"

Now she knew – she should've taken the time to send a distress signal out to Soubi.

"I like those," Natsuo said, "Pretty!"

Hitomi took a shy glance around the bus. The salary men were in their own little worlds, reading a book or a newspaper. Only the one sitting closest to them looking up briefly, disinterested, and then went back to reading. Hitomi slumped down in her seat and waited for it to be over. They only had 15 or so blocks left to go and about four stops.

Once off the bus, her new underwear thoroughly handled, Natsuo said, "You know what, sensei?"

Of course, she didn't know what.

He continued, "If you masturbate you don't lose your ears."

She felt herself blush, "You! How do you know about such a thing?"

The two boys giggled. They had three blocks to walk together before Hitomi's house. The sky had been cloudy again today and so the neighborhood was darker than normal. There was no moon. She had to wonder about that – the darkness, and these two.

"Natsuo does it all the time," Youji giggled, hitting the other boy with Hitomi's shopping bag.

Natsuo hit him back, "Youji does every morning and every night!"

"Like this," Youji motioned. Natsuo laughed. Hitomi ignored them.

"Sensei?" Youji ran up beside her, "Did you ever masturbate?"

"I'm not talking to you about that!" She said and hurried on her way down the sidewalk.

"Do you know how, sensei?" Youji said, keeping up with her. Natsuo kept up, too, both of them giggling between themselves.

She ignored them; kept going. They followed, chattering between themselves behind her, mostly about her breasts. Once they got to her house she thought she'd be safe. Instead, Youji said, smiling up at her,

"Sensei? Before you go, would you give us each a kiss?"

Natsuo added, "On the mouth."


	8. eight

THANK U klagana for reviewing! My take on Natsuo & Youji is that they're highly inappropriate. Nothing's off limits for those two. ^_^ And, yes, I know what you mean Lamia - it's good to hear from you again. While I'm here - u know what I finally realized is kinda weird? Having cat ears means that everyone who's still a virgin has 4 ears. Can they hear through the pair on top of their head? Just a few random thoughts ... ok, on with today's chapter ...

* * *

**chapter 8**

Oddly enough, when she went into the house no one was home. Nothing but silence all around. Hitomi put her bags down by the door; it was nice to have control of those again.

"Mom?"

No answer.

The television was off, so that meant dad wasn't home, either. He never went to bed before 9:00. Just in case, she listened for the upstairs television, on the off chance he had gone to bed early for whatever reason.

Nothing there, either. Not even a footstep. She checked her watch. It was just a little past 8:15.

"Mimoru?" She said.

Yeah, like he was really going to be home. Mimoru was noisy, anyway, and the house was quiet.

"Okay," Hitomi said out loud. She removed her shoes by the door and put on her slippers, locking the door behind her. She had a feeling those two evil little fairies were probably still out there, and she did end up giving them each a kiss on the mouth before getting her Macy's bags back from them. Only the one tried to give her some tongue, but she stopped him cold.

In the kitchen on the refrigerator, mom had left a note:

_Hitomi, we've gone to the airport to pick up your uncle_

"Oh, wow," she said to herself. That must've been an emergency. Her uncle had been in a wheelchair since he was a teenager, which meant that dad had to take the car _and_ mom out to the airport. Dad would be complaining about this for the rest of the week. An airport trip with mom was going to take about 3 to 4 hours out of his evening, and he hated any deviation from his routine, unless it was Saturday.

She put the note back, "Well, that's that."

Next – what would there be for dinner? Had she known her parents were going to be gone when she got home, she would've stopped for take-out. An image came to her of trying to contain the evil fairies inside a restaurant or even outside a food stall. There was no way that would've worked. But she wasn't out of luck yet. There was always …

… _delivery_. Sweet, sweet delivery.

Hitomi was just about to delve into the delivery menus mom kept in a napkin holder on top of the refrigerator when the front doorbell rang. She looked over her shoulder at the clock above the kitchen sink. It was 8:30. That was late to her family. A vision of evil fairies came to mind.

The doorbell rang again.

Fine. If it was the two of them, she would call Soubi and have them removed.

Hitomi shuffled over to the front door in her slippers and looked out the peephole. Standing in the semi-dark of the front porch were two older boys, around Mimoru's age, talking quietly to one another. She didn't recognize them. In any event, the wrought iron screen door was still firmly locked. She opened the heavy inside door,

"Can I help you?"

The taller of the two, cute with dark hair, said, "Hi! Is Mimoru home? He asked us to meet him here."

Behind him was a smaller young man, college age, with long straight hair, wearing a trench coat. His face was pale and pinched looking, his thin lips in a straight line.

"No, Mimoru's not home," she said in her soft voice. "I'm sorry."

"Aww!" The taller looked disappointed. He really was cute. For a moment Hitomi was a little sorry Mimoru had never introduced him to her.

"Is it okay if we wait for him?" He said, slowly opening the wrought iron screen door.

Hitomi felt her blood run cold. She was sure she'd locked the screen door. The only way it could be locked was with a key, and she was certain_, certain_ that she'd used her key. As she reached out to pull the door shut again, she said,

"I'm sorry."

"Oh," the taller pulled the screen door open enough so that its handle was out of reach for Hitomi, "really? It's 8:30, isn't it? Mimoru asked us to meet him here at 8:30 to pay back some money we borrowed from him for classes. I think we should wait, don't you?"

The smaller had been standing behind. While her eyes were on the taller guy, the smaller one moved to the side quickly. He slipped in through the door as the taller one opened it for him.

"I think we should wait," the smaller boy said. "Don't mind us, we'll wait right here."

The taller came in behind, moving gracefully. Hitomi's heart pounded in her chest. Just a minute ago she had been wondering how long it would be before her parents got home, and now …. The taller boy smiled down at her and it was nearly the same smile as Soubi's – with veiled eyes. Veiled intentions. He definitely had intentions, but what they were … would remain a mystery to her. Until it was too late.

Hitomi backed into the living room, "Mimoru is so rude. Why don't I call –."

Before she could finish, the taller seemed to lunge at her. In the blink of an eye he was quite a bit closer than when she had her eyes on him only a second ago.

"No," he said. "Nisei called him while we were outside. He'll be … here …."

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. If it was true that they had called Mimoru, then … why did they ask if he was home? She felt her blood run cold again, so cold that it felt like someone had opened the freezer door. The smaller boy closed the front door behind him and turned the dead bolt with a slow _click_. He looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes hard.

She was already nearly to the sofa, backing slowly and slowly away from the taller one; and he – advancing on her just as slowly. When she got to the sofa, she'd be trapped. What could she do now? Pray for Mimoru to come blazing through the front door, like he never did any other time? It was 8:30. Mom and dad had to have left home after dad got home from work – around 6:00. They probably wouldn't be home for another hour and a half. A familiar voice came from behind her,

"Soubi? Can you come? Seimei's here, with Nisei."

The taller one hissed like a snake at someone standing behind Hitomi, to her right. She couldn't help but turn to see, and when she did, realized too late that the back of her knees were in fact against the end table next to the sofa – not in front of the sofa as she had originally thought. She cried out and fell back just a little before she caught herself, coming close to falling against the arm of the sofa.

Youji was behind her, on his cell phone, "We're at sensei's house. Well, they _were_ here …."

Natsuo ran from behind Youji, outside into the front yard. Youji followed him. As soon as they were out, Hitomi closed the front door and locked it. But in her heart she had a feeling – what good would that do?

* * *

_I have a question for my angelic readers: Did you ever think that Hitomi might be Ritsuka's fighter? She's not what anyone would call effective, but Yun Kouga has said that Ritsuka does have a fighter, and Hitomi is working toward saving Ritsuka from his abusive mother (who I think needs an ass kicking ...). Anyway, that's what I was wondering about. And I think I've said this before: did you ever think that Seimei stole Ritsuka's name from him? Seems like Seimei and Nisei should be Loveless and Ritsuka and Soubi should be Beloved. Yun Kouga's awesome. Japan's awesome, and I ... oooooo, the earthquake and the tidal wave, just ... my prayers going out to Japan. Moving along - I'm about half finished with chapter 9 ..._


	9. nine

_A/N: I'm apologizing AGAIN! And I should be. ^_^ But seriously, I was reading on Daily Writing Tips that, "There is no perfect time to write. You just have to do it." Now that I'm out of school and have a full-time job, I'm even busier than I was when I was in school. My new plan: To quit on the, "All right ... tonight I'll make some time to write." Yeah, that's not working. I just need to do it. So, again, I'm determined to finish everything. Love you guys who have favorited my story! It's going to get scary in the very near chapters!_

* * *

******************Chapter****9**************

Mom and Dad got home a little after 11:00 to find an odd sight – Hitomi sitting at the dining room table with the young man who had dinner with them the other night and two of her students. The four seemed to be busy playing a card game and talking quietly. They all smiled as Mom and Dad came through the front door.

"Hitomi?" Mom said, in shock. Hitomi never had friends over to the house this late in the evening.

Soubi spoke instead, "Mrs. Shinonome, please forgive us. Hitomi called and asked me to come when she found that two men had followed her home from the bus stop."

"Mom and dad, this is Youji and Natsuo Sagan," Hitomi said. "Soubi's taking care of them while their mother is … overseas on business."

Now that that was out of the way, Hitomi relaxed a bit.

Dad helped mom out of her winter coat as mom was saying, "Hitomi, you really shouldn't be taking the bus or the train after hours. You should've taken a taxi home instead."

Hitomi looked at Soubi, who was beating them all bloody, except for Youji, in cribbage, "You're right, mom. Next time I will … take a taxi … when I'm downtown. I ordered dinner. It's in the oven."

Dad said nothing, going right for the kitchen as soon as his coat and shoes were off. He paid no attention to Hitomi's guests, for which she thanked her lucky stars. Soubi had paid for dinner – pizza for the boys and a variety of noodle dishes for the rest of them.

"Thank you," she said to him as he stood to leave.

"But our game …," Youji said, in mid card throw.

"It's late," Soubi said, "and you lost. You know it, I know it. Just admit it and move on."

Youji gave him the evil eye but put his cards down anyway. Natsuo was already heading toward their shoes and coats.

Youji looked up at Hitomi, suddenly all sweetness, "What about a good night kiss?"

She ignored him and moved around the sofa to be sure that her parents were occupied in the kitchen.

"Don't worry," Natsuo said as he put on his coat, "we'll keep you safe from Seimei."

Nice thought. But she still felt shaky, especially after what Soubi had to say about the incident. Hitomi was so rattled that she almost didn't notice when Soubi gave her a kiss on the forehead,

"Yes, don't worry," he said, "now that we know about Seimei, he won't be back."

Good thing he was so confident. Once the three of them were out the door, Hitomi locked both doors again, listening to her mother chatter away at Dad in the kitchen. She took a deep breath to calm herself and then went in to be sociable. Had she gone straight to her bedroom, Mom would've been suspicious. As soon as she was through the door, Mom said,

"The airport was actually nice tonight, Hitomi. You should come with us next time!"

Right. That prospect was about as thrilling as having dinner with grandparents. Hitomi sat down to listen, anyway, her mind a million miles away. She wanted to appear normal, although that wasn't easy considering her current state of mind. After Soubi (with side comments from the fairies) told her all about Seimei and Nisei, she had asked _will__ my __parents __be__ safe?_ Soubi assured her they would. Seimei wasn't interested in her parents. He was interested in … Hitomi.

While mom went on to talk about uncle's good mood, Hitomi excused herself from the table to make tea.

* * *

It had seemed like forever before Soubi finally arrived. In reality, it was only 20 minutes, which was long enough for the evil fairies to make their way back in the house. Hitomi hadn't been all that disappointed to see them. Her first question was, _who__ was__ that?_ Youji, naturally, was the first to dish,

"That was Seimei, Ritsuka's older brother …"

Natsuo had added, "Who died. He was bound and burned to death. That's why Ritsuka came to live … here."

"How can that be? Someone back from the dead?" Hitomi had said, thinking about the look in his eyes. Natsuo had put it well – it was the look of someone dead.

"That's what everyone wants to know," Youji said cheerily.

Her second question had been, _how__ the __hell__ did__ you__ get __into __the __house?_ They took her outside and showed her how they scaled the back wall like monkeys and then worked together to open the laundry room window. But, they insisted they had a good reason – they were about to go home when Natsuo felt a fighter nearby, and it couldn't have been Mimoru, who's a sacrifice. They had thought at first that it had to be Soubi, so they snuck back into the house _to__ watch__ you__ guys__ smoosh_, was Youji's simple explanation.

Appalling, and yet they saved her. What if they hadn't been lurking around?

* * *

Hitomi looked up from her tea to find both of her parents staring at her. She pedaled forward as fast as she could, realizing at the last moment that her mother had asked her a question,

"I'm sorry, mom – it's been a long day. I zoned out there for a few minutes. You know what, I think I'll get to bed."

Since that was fine with them and they had no further questions, she hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom as fast as she could without being suspicious.

Inside her bedroom she flipped on the light and looked around. No matter what Soubi and the evil fairies had to say, she still felt like … he was here. Those eyes! What would he have done …? And then she had to admit it – she needed to be a little more thankful to Natsuo and Youji. If it hadn't been for them, really – what would have happened?

Hitomi hadn't been upstairs to her bedroom all evening. She'd left school at the usual time, but instead of coming home, she'd gone shopping, and then … everything went crazy. The window shades were still up and her curtains were still open, even though it was late. What would the neighbors think?

She went over to the window. She didn't mean to, but she looked outside. In the neighbor's yard across the street, something disappeared into the darkness. A minute later a text came through on her phone:

_don__'__t__ worry__ – __that__ was__ just__ Youji,__ha __ha__ ha_

Whew. After closing the window shades and curtains, she curled up on top of her bed, still fully dressed. It was 4:00 a.m. before she felt her eyes close.


End file.
